Burnet County community rallies for law enforcement
Members of the Burnet County law enforcement community gathered at the Wallace Riddell Park pavilion in Burnet on Sept. 30 as the public celebrated and honored them during See You at the Station. The event was organized to show law enforcement officers the majority of the community supports them and appreciates them and their families. Staff photo by Daniel Clifton
DANIEL CLIFTON • EDITOR
BURNET — Although it was only one event on one night, Granite Shoals Police Chief J.P. Wilson said the support he witnessed during the See You at the Station ceremony at Wallace Riddell Park was why he and so many other law enforcement officers put on the badge and head for their patrol vehicles each shift.
“This allows you to start over each morning or every evening when your shift starts knowing the community supports you,” Wilson said after about a thousand people gathered to honor and support area law enforcement. “I’ve gone through some tough times as a law enforcement officer, and this, well, is so incredible knowing that I have the community’s support.”
Law enforcement from across Burnet County attended the rally held in their honor. But organizers Lisa Whitehead and Katherine McAnally also recognized all area first responders.
See You at the Station was born a few weeks ago when the two women began brainstorming ideas on how to show police that, despite recent tragedies and violence targeting law enforcement officers, the majority of people support them.
“We wanted to do something more than just bake them cookies,” McAnally said after the event. After bouncing ideas off each other via Facebook one evening, McAnally stepped away for a moment. A text from a friend suggested something similar to See You at the Pole, an event where students gather outside their schools at the flagpole and pray.
McAnally and Whitehead jumped on the idea. McAnally posted the event about 11 p.m. one night.
“The next morning, we had 1,500 invitations,” she said. “It just went viral.”
Other communities across the country held their rallies Sept. 23, but Burnet County met Sept. 30.
During the ceremony, Whitehead told the law enforcement officers gathered under the park pavilion that the community does care about and support them. Then, she asked them to look around at all the people who were there
“Look at the people who are here for you tonight,” she said. “These are the people that love you and support you.”
Burnet Rotarian Damon Beirele added that, while a lot of attention might focus on people who don’t like the police, that’s only a small part of the nation.
“This event defines how this country feels about law enforcement,” he told the officers and their families.
While organizers had about a month to plan the event, McAnally was extremely pleased with the public’s showing.
“I was floored by the turnout,” she said. “I hope the officers felt the community hug they got tonight. This is how the community really feels about them. They need to see this, and I’m so glad they did.”
daniel@thepicayune.com